The Floating Orchard

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

This beautifully illustrated tale is biblical in its storyline and
symbolism. Damson, a young farmwoman, lives alone and cares for an
orchard of plum trees, a flower garden, and an assortment of sheep and
poultry. Her great-grandfather had built the farmhouse she lives in, and
her great-grandmother had brought the first plum stone across the ocean.

When heavy rains bring cause a flood, Damson builds a boat that lacks
only a mast. Bartlett, a young stranger carrying pear seeds, seeks
refuge and shapes a mast from the tallest, straightest plum tree—the
Orchard Queen—which was grown from Great-grandmother’s stone. The
two set out, like Noah and his family, with a quilt for a sail and a
boat full of animals. In time, the rains stop and the flood recedes. The
mast grows roots, its plums and Bartlett’s pear seeds start a new
orchard, and Damson and Bartlett build a house and new lives. Their
daughter will learn “that life is full of surprises.”

Troon Harrison writes poetry and lyrical picture books. Miranda
Jones’s art has been shown in many solo and group exhibitions. Her
dramatic paintings in The Floating Orchard create an effective blend of
realism and fantasy. The story line and illustrations should attract
imaginative children from five to eight, but the text is rather advanced
for many readers of this age group to tackle by themselves. Highly
recommended.